First published 2013
China commits a quarter trillion dollars to aerospace development in its twelfth Five-Year Plan. Journalist James Fallows investigates this massive industrial undertaking and its potential to transform the nation from low-wage manufacturing to high-tech innovation. He documents how this aerospace push could drive China's rapid growth and urbanization on a scale comparable to America's transcontinental railroad construction. Fallows takes readers inside Xi'an, where 250,000 engineers and factory workers build China's aviation future. He profiles the mix of con artists, idealists, business leaders, and ambitious planners who hope to profit from China's quest for air superiority. The book examines what China's aerospace ambitions mean for American competitiveness and global power dynamics, offering analysis of how other nations should respond to this challenge.
Genres: history, business, politics, china, non-fiction, aviation
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: ambitious-planners, investigative-journalism
Setting: China, Xi'an
Period: 21st-Century
288 pages · Paperback · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group